Interviews

• Interviews

  Conversations between a researcher and respondent about a certain topic with a range of questions
• Structured, positivists

  • Formal interview, face to face with standardised questions
  • Closed questions, set questions giving quantitative data used on a large scale
• Structured interview example - Wilmott and Young

  • Used structured interviews to research prevalence of extended family, short interviews but large scale
  • hard to compare and interpret without imposing bias
• Advantages of structured

  • Theoretical = quantitative data > closed questions > reduces bias as questions are pre-coded > reliable
  • Practical = cheap to conduct > attractive for those on limited budget
• Disadvantages of structured

  • Practical = can be time consuming to gain a representative sample and to analyse findings > hard to compare and interpret without imposing bias
  • Ethical = sensitive issues may cause respondents to recall upsetting memories
  • Theoretical = interviewer's presence may mean people give socially desirable answers (Hawthorne effect) > invalid
• Unstructured interviews, interpretivists

  • Face to face in informal setting, researcher has flexibility to the interview in different directions
  • Open ended questions, qualitative data
• Unstructured inter. example - Dobashs

  • Used unstructured interviews and police reports to gain insight on domestic violence
  • Gained strong rapport
  • Produced findings about experiences of women about events leading up to attacks and why some failed to report it
• Advantages of unstructured

  • Practical = not standardised > can cater each subject to respondent > allows interviewer to gain a wider range of data > flexible
  • Ethical = respondent led > develop rapport > interviewer can probe and achieve verstehen > reveal hidden answers > valid
  • Reduction of bias > less likely to give socially desirable answers as unstructured interviews are likely sensitive topics
• Disadvantages of unstructured

  • Practical = Long time to conduct > small sample > less representative > unable to generalise wider population
  • Ethical = Interviewers need to be trained > good interpersonal skills > develop a rapport for honest answers otherwise interviewees may lie in fear of revealing sensitive answers
  • Theoretical = Unreliable, not standardised > hard to replicate findings and compare > can't establish cause and effect relationships > unreliable
• Semi-structured interviews

  • Pre-coded questions but interviewer can probe for more information providing quantitative and qualitative data
• Semi-structured example - Cecile Wright et al

  • Group interviews research why Afro-Caribbeans are 5x more likely to be excluded
  • Boys felt labelled and discriminated
  • May have lied to avoid embarrassment
• Advantages of semi-structured

  • Provide both valid and reliable data > able to compare and flexibility to find out more
  • More detail due to open-ended structure > can be asked to elaborate
• Disadvantages of semi-structured

  • Lack validity > difficult to compare answers depending how far interviewer deviated from pre-coded questions
  • Open ended structure could lead to bias > tempted to ask
• Advantages of group interviews

  • Participants throw around ideas > stimulating each other's thinking > rich and reflective data
  • Feel more comfortable to open up
  • Able to observe body language
• Disadvantages of group interviews

  • Interviewer effect = respondents may give answers they think interviewer wants or opposite > peer pressure to conform to group norms > lying
  • One/two individuals dominate discussion > inhabits others from contributing
  • Complex to analyse
• Example of group interview - Willis

  • Studied working class boys who didn't care about school